Policy Blog

Duluth has one of the highest voter turnouts in the nation. We can be proud of that accomplishment. Nobody knows for sure why we turn out in such numbers, but speculation is that citizens turnout in such force because they feel they did not have much say in the political process in earlier years. To make sure that this does not happen again, Duluth citizens show up and vote more than ever.

But there are some suggested changes on the horizon in how we choose our leaders. One such change is Ranked Choice Voting or RCV. Essentially, RCV eliminates primary elections and it gives the voter an opportunity to rank his or her votes. In other words, you could choose your first, second, or third choices in any race. In theory eliminating the primary and ranking your votes would give any person interested in running for office an excellent chance of being elected. While this may be new to Duluth, it is not a new idea in the US. RCV is currently used in San Francisco, Burlington, Vermont and Minneapolis.

There are some good and bad sides to RCV. In my mind we would eliminate the primary. Voters would not have to make two trips to the election booth to elect anyone. Special interests would have less of an impact on who reaches the general election. This is good. On the other hand, RCV seems confusing. How does my vote actually get counted in a ranked choice system? Would my candidate or candidates really get elected? These kinds of questions need to be answered before RCV becomes the norm.

No matter what your thoughts, RCV may soon be coming to Duluth. My initial reaction is that it may help diversify who actually gets elected . Depending upon your point of view this may or may not be a good thing. The Chamber is interested in hearing and learning about RCV.

The FORVM will be this coming Tuesday, April 6th, at 8:00 AM at the Playground Theater. The discussion will focus upon Ranked Choice Voting. Dan Hartman, City Council at Large; Andy Celik, Executive Director of the Minnesota Voter's Alliance; and Jeanne Massey, Executive Director of FairVote Minnesota will be our guests.

FORVM guests Celik and Massey and their respective organizations hold opposing viewpoints. You will be able to hear the pros and cons of Ranked Choice Voting discussed in a lively and interactive format.

Having you as our member is wonderful - having you as a member who knows what is going on is even better.

See you at the FORVM.

Andy